THE SECRETARY FOR WAR ON THE HOME FOR RETIRED IRISH MILITARY PERSONNEL HERBERT (Hon. Sidney, M.P., 1810-1861, Secretary for War during the Crimea, from 1860 1st Baron)

Autograph Letter Signed to “My dear Stanley” saying that he is “engaged in making arrangements for reopening Kilmainham to Pensioners under certain limitations analogous to those which guide the Chelsea commissioners in their selection for the... I think it is quite possible that the internal discipline & arrangement of Kilmainham may require a good deal of unison. But it is useless to send any one over to enquire into such details unless he be conversant with the practise of similar Institutions elsewhere. I shd have the greatest reliance on the judgement & discretion of Mr Moorhead if the Commissioners of Chelsea wd allow me to entrust this inquiry to him & would grant him leave of absence for the purpose. I imagine he wd not object to undertake it & I have Sir E. B. Carberry’s assurances that every... shall be given to any one who may be sent over to examine into the State of the Hospital. I have not mentioned the subject to Moorhead as I wished to know what your disposition on the matter may be before making a formal application to the Commissioners for Mr Moorhead’s services. He wd be of great use & I shall be very much obliged if you will let me have him...”, 4 sides 4to., War Office, 23rd May

In 1852 Herbert was appointed as Secretary at War in the coalition government of Lord Aberdeen from 1852 to 1854, being responsible for the War Office during the Crimean War.
The Royal Hospital in Kilmainham, Dublin, is a 17th-century former hospital and retirement home which is now mainly used to house the Irish Museum of Modern Art and as a concert and events venue. The hospital was built as a home for retired soldiers of the Irish Army by Sir William Robinson, Surveyor General for James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, between 1679 and 1687 on what was then a portion of the Phoenix Park. The building was inspired by Les Invalides in Paris which also has a formal facade and a large enclosed courtyard. Along with Les Invalides, it served as the model for the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, begun the next year under the guidance of Christopher Wren.

Item Date:  1853

Stock No:  42906      £350

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